It's been too long

Sorry for the long radio silence. The last two weeks have been an adventure, but not the good kind. I finished the second (and last) week of chemo and soon became very ill. I went to the ER on the 16th with severe shortness of breath and a fever. It turned out I had nutropenia, which is an extremely low white blood cell count. Neutropenia in adults is generally defined as a count of 1,700 or fewer neutrophils per microliter of blood. My white count was 800. Explosive diarrhea ruined four or five days. I was anemic and received a blood transfusion. Then my platelet count was low, so I received a platelet transfusion. I was pumped full of fluids for the entire time and now have chubby knees, shins, and ankles. I hear I'm supposed to "pee out" the edema. We'll see.

I was in the hospital through yesterday, the 24th. I cannot say enough good things about the staff of the Modesto Kaiser hospital. Still, home never looked so good. A shower. Real food. My own bed. No more tether to the IV. Three weeks of radiation remain.

The flowers, cards, emails, and phone calls I've received have meant so much. I've not been as responsive as I'd like to be. But now that I'm home and feeling A LOT better, I hope that will change.

Love,
Katie